


I'll hold you as long as you like

by SpoonDance



Category: Coronation Street
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-16
Updated: 2015-04-16
Packaged: 2018-03-23 05:04:56
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,603
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3755476
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SpoonDance/pseuds/SpoonDance
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Maddie gets locked in a backroom at the factory and Sophie is soon at her side.</p>
            </blockquote>





	I'll hold you as long as you like

**Author's Note:**

> Because I feel Maddie doesn't just dislike enclosed spaces.

Sophie was out the door in a matter of seconds. Her mum's worried voice simply saying Maddie's name was enough to rouse her but the actual conversation is what had her running. Not so much as a conversation as her mother barely getting out, _“Maddie got stuck in a back room and the door won't budge. No one can get her to talk-”_ before she hurriedly said she'd be there.

She knew Maddie struggled with enclosed spaces. She saw the flicker of fear when a door was stiff to open, heard her breathing quickly growing shallow when she couldn't open the bathroom door Sophie had locked when they had entered to shower, remembered the girl say on more than one occasion how she disliked being  _'locked up'_ . Sophie could only imagine the amount of panic coursing through Maddie being actually locked in a room.

“Where is she?” were the first she spoke rushing into the factory.

Alya was the one to direct her to the back where several others were gathered around a door. Carla was directing Kirk and Tyrone(evidently having been brought to help from his lunch with Fitz) who were working on getting the door open, apparently resorting to trying to get the entire thing off it's hinges. Julie was standing by Sally near the door, both trying to speak to Maddie through the door but they weren't getting any responses and all involved were looking uneasily nervous.

Sophie was in the midst of them in seconds. She would have taken a crowbar to the door herself if she could've, but she had to restrain herself to stay out of the guys' way. Instead calling to her silent girlfriend, “Maddie? Maddie, I'm here and we're getting you out, okay? Just breathe.” It was all she could say, all she could do. She knew there was little comfort she could give from this side of the door.

The silence from the room weighted on her but she didn't really expect a word from Maddie. From the panic that was most likely drowning the rest of the world around her and from her hatred of letting such weakness showing. And her voice would certainly be strained in fear. And Sophie couldn't stand it.

But then the door was giving way and she lurched forward, helping to pull it away and then turning to the others taking on a stern and inarguable demeanor. “I go in on my own.” Carla and Sally were both about to argue but Sophie cut them off. “No. She won't be wanting any of you there. Let me calm her and see if she's alright.” And neither objected as Sophie squeezed through the door the guys were still working off.

“Mads?” she called softly into the dim room. “Mads, where are you?”

There was a long silence and the weight on her heart was growing, but a soft whimper caught her ear. A moment later there was a quiet whisper of her name, strangled and so very broken sounding but she followed the sound to her Maddie. She found her around a cabinet, curled in a ball in the corner; knees pulled tightly to her chest and hair loose from her ponytail, looking flushed and frail. She was visibly trembling.

“Oh Maddie,” she breathed in relief at finding her but the sight of her was crushing. She was quickly crouched before her, hand gently on the girl's knee and tried not to be hurt at how Maddie flinched at the touch. “Mads, it's me. Please look at me.”

When Maddie's head lifted, eyes dull with an anguish only the mind could produce, she had to hold back her own need to cry. And although the sight of red eyes, pale cheeks, and tear stains was it own sort of torture, Sophie took the next sob that came from her girl as a sign of recognition. The way her body shook yet unwound to reach for her, Maddie allowing Sophie to enter her space and try to bring her back from the fog of horror in her mind, was enough of a gesture to ensure her that Maddie was still with her in the moment.

She had Maddie wrapped in her arms tightly in seconds, the fingers digging into her, pulling her; grounding her. The face pressed into her neck was hot and damp with tears, uneven breaths deafening her.

“You're safe, Mads. I've got you and I'm not gonna let anything happen to you. You're not trapped here.” Her words were quiet but strong as she tried to calm her girl with clear words. “The doors open, babe. We can leave whenever you want. Nothin's gonna happen to you.”

Maddie's entire frame shook with how harshly her nerves thrummed, how rigidly her muscles strained, how cold her bones. She was locked. And Sophie tried to ease her open and prayed for a calm to come to the girl in her arms. The sobs were short but sharp and each gasp had Sophie's own chest tightening. She tried not to cry.

She hummed and held her tightly without being restricting. If Maddie's arm twitched, she allowed her room; but as long as hands clung to her, she wouldn't let go. Running her hand up and down a tense back, Sophie whispered to her girl.

“Mads. My Mads. You're okay. Breathe.”

She tried to reassure her that she wasn't locked in anymore, tried to get that through to her in hopes it would soothe her. Tried to talk about anything to draw her from the nightmare in her mind.“You aren't closed in here. You can get up and leave whenever you like. We can go home and put on those ridiculous game shows you watch until I steal the remote off ya. We can have a cup of tea -don't worry, I'll make yours- and you can ask me who would win between Aquaman and a Pegasus or sommat. We can take a nap. A nice long nap. And I'll hold you as long as you like, Mads. I'll hold you forever.”

And perhaps she was getting choked up as she held this strong, brave, beautiful girl so shattered and vulnerable. Because the girl she loved was so caught in her own darkened mind and she felt it seep into herself. But as the words hushed between them, the tremors slowed and sobs quieted.

It took a few more moments before Maddie's head turned to press her nose into the side of Sophie's neck, breathing slowly, then pressing a trembling brush of lips there. Sophie swallowed to quell her gasping heart. And still they sat a while longer. Sophie running her fingers through hair and and along her back.

And still a while longer before a rough, quite “Can we go now?” was whispered into her skin.

“'Course we can. Come on.” Sophie gave Maddie a squeeze before slowly and gently pulling back and helping her to her feet.

They made there way to the door now pried open enough for them to get out but now far enough to let any other eyes peer in at them. Sophie stayed close to Maddie's side, arm slipped around her waist and guiding her softly as she shuffled along. As they neared the door, Maddie stopped, eyes jittery as they glided across the door.

“Mads?” Sophie spoke softly but she could guess the girl's thoughts.

“Are there-are they...?” she trialed off as she looked to Sophie, gaze almost pleading with her to will all eyes on the other side away.

Sophie nodded. “Yeah.” She took Maddie's hand firmly and reassuringly into her and kept her gaze. “It'll be okay, just follow closely, okay.”

Maddie gave a short nod and the timid and weak way she was holding herself now, it rattled Sophie to her core. And she just wanted to get her girl out of here and away from any prying(if genuinely concerned) questions so she could take care of her. Help to hold her up again until she could do so on her own.

Sophie moved forward first, slowly, keeping a hold on Maddie's hand as she paused in the opening to set the onlooker with a firm gaze.

“We're going home.” Her voice was as firm as her eyes and said so much more. _'Don't bother her. Leave her be. I've got this.'_

She eased through and Maddie haltingly followed. Her eyes were on her feet and her hand tensed at the crowded feeling of her co-workers. Sophie just kept walking, pulling Maddie along until they had passed the last worker and fell instep beside her, arm back around her waist.

They walked home, Maddie trying to take deep breaths as her lung seemed to open to the sky. And Sophie breathed as well. Maddie's eyes to the blue above, Sophie's to the curve of her cheek. And she breathed.

That night was spent mostly in their room. Maddie, worn out from stress, napped and dozed the rest of the day away as Sophie busied herself on her laptop, eyes never long off of the girl. She wanted to take in the peaceful, relaxed state of her girl as much as she could. Trying to relax her heart to the sound of soft, even breathing.

And later, Sophie would hold Maddie and caress her as they watched some mindless, lighthearted film. She would hold her when, half-way through the movie, Maddie turned around to curl into her sleepily. She would hold her long after the girl fell asleep.

She would hold her 'til the sun no longer rose.

 


End file.
